Making the Most of High School with CollegePlus — Part 2

Making the Most of High School with CollegePlus — Part 2

Have you ever had a wonderful opportunity derail your lesson plans?

Shortly after my two teenage sons, Roger Dean and Ryan, officially started CollegePlus, my husband announced that he was taking us on a week-long vacation to Texas to visit his 88-year-old father.

Learning at the speed of life

(This is part 2 in our series. If you missed our first post, you can find it here.)

In 2005, Granda Farrell had moved back to his home town, a thousand miles away from us. We missed him. (I miss him now.) It had been far too long since our last visit. Although I was thrilled at the thought of seeing him again, I felt a bit of stress not knowing what impact this unexpected trip might have on our studies.

When we start something new in our homeschool, I've found it takes time to build momentum. (Can you relate?) Before my sons started CollegePlus, they had taken the Biology CLEP exam and passed. However, “dual-enrollment” (taking college classes while in high school) was (is) still new territory for us. So I wasn't quite sure taking a break right after we finally got rolling was the best idea.

Fortunately, one of the great benefits CollegePlus offers every student is a personal coach — and I was able to discuss my concerns with him.

Experienced Coaches to Encourage & Guide

Our coach, Bryan, is a treasure. He is experienced, insightful, and truly cares about the students entrusted to him. I have much to say about encounters with him, and I will share more in future posts. For now, I will simply say that his biweekly phone calls bring clarity and inspiration to our journey.

He can skillfully diffuse situations that have the potential to spark conflict.

Flexibility When We Need It

Another great benefit of CollegePlus is that it offers flexibility. When we told Bryan that we were flying to Texas to visit Roger and Ryan's grandfather, I asked for his opinion as to whether they should plan to do coursework on the trip. He had the most encouraging reply:

He said he was a firm believer that we should be on vacation when we take a vacation.

What might've been hard to discern today will be quite obvious years from now. We needed to be fully present with my father-in-law, and, thanks to the freedom we have with CollegePlus, we were. It was a precious time.

CollegePlus allows students to work at their own pace. It offers just the right amount of structure and scheduling with the flexibility required to learn at the speed of life.